Winch.



L. G. HOWLETT.

WINCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2. 1918.

1,274,549. 'PateritedAug. 6,1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1- fi j WNYENTOR BY W ATTORNEY L. (T. HOWLETT.

WINCH.

APPLICATION FILYED MAR. I2. 1918.

1,274,549. PatentedAug. 6, 1918.. v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR ATTORNEY LEWIS e. HOWLETT, or nay crrv, mcnrean.

- wmcrr.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, LEWIS a citizen of the United States, residing atBay. City, inthe.county of. Bay' and State 'useful Improvements inWinches; and I do hereby'declare the following to be a full,

clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. j

This invention relates to winches and 'pertains more particularly to animproved construction in a winch adapted to. be used on vehicles such asmotor trucks. I

The objects, of the improvement are to provide a power-transmittingmechanism for a truck winch, adapted to transmit power. to the windingdrum evenly and without binding or undue friction, even'though the frameof the winch and the su orts on which the main bearings are mounted be--Qcome sprung out of alinement from any cause, such as sudden jerks dueto slippage ofthe load, unevenness of the truck frame, or'warpingorspringing of the truck frame; In 'wi'nches as ordinarily constructed,with cylindrical bearingsand rigid frames, to

which the power transmission is secured, 'awarplngbor twistlng of thewinch frame ire-I sults in inding at the bearings or improper drivingcontact between the, drivingiworm and the worm wheel of the Winch,resulting mechanism I have provided the device herein describedandclaimed and it 'is this device and the equivalents thereof whichconstitute my present invention. 5

. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 plied'to the frame o a motortruclnf I Fig.2 isa art longitudinal section on the line 22 of ig. 1.

Fig. 3 i'san enlarged I of Michigan, have invented certain new and in.unnecessary friction, reduction of power is a side view of in improvedwinch aptransverse section 4 Specification of Letters'latentl PatentedAug. 6,1918.

Application filed March 12, 1918. Serial m. 222,015.

pedestals l and 2 connected by cross beams or sleepers 3 and carryingthe drum-shaft 4, upon which is mounted'the drum 5 and a suitable clutchmechanism 6, disengaged from the shaft 4. I i As previously stated, mypresent improvement I pertains more particularly to "the means forsupporting the drum-shaft on the pedestals and the arrangement of thedrivlng worm and worm wheel with relation to the shaft and frame,whereby the proper de' gree of flexibility is imparted to the drivingmechanism tokeep the worm and worm wheel in proper relation to eachother, even though the frame ofthetruck and its main m bearings becomethrown out 'of ialinement.

My improvement comprises a pair of spherical journal boxes 7 and 8, .inwhich the shaft 4 revolves, the boxes-being mounted in spherical socketsin the pedestals 1 and 7 5 2 respectively, as shown in Fig. 2. One of Ithe journal boxes, as 7, is preferably formed integral with the housing9 of the worm' wheel 10 which wheel is fixed to the shaft 4,

The lower part of the housing!) is formed a worm housingll, in which ismounted the worm 12-. vThe worm iscarried by a shaft 13 which ispreferably driven by a means of a chain 14 and suitable'sprockets fromthe driving or' power shaft 15 of the truck. 7

"Since the housing '9 of the worm wheel 4 and the housing 11 of the wormare integral and both are supported "by the shaft 4, the housings wlththeir contained worm and ,90

-worm wheel are capable. of moving with the shaft 4 independent f theframe of the winch should the frame become warped or its bearingsbethrown out-of alinement, that is .to' say, the. proper relativepositions of the worm' and worm wheel are maintained.- within thehousings 9 and 11 regardless of distortion of the framejofthewinch. To

permit a proper .degree'of movement to the housings 9 and 11 withrelation-to the frame and to prevent too great movement, I provide; onthecross beams 3, or on any equivalent part of the frame, stops 16 and17 on the line of Fig; 2,the shaft." and worm wheel being removed, theworm being shown diagrammatically. .As is clea' 1y shown in adapted tobe engaged the ends of the housing-11, as indicated in Fig, 3. Thedegree of permissiblemovementof the hous ings 11 may be regulated bymeansiof shims 18,.0rtheir equivalents.

fIt a is evident that the required degree of movement produce thnecessary 1'10 bility or What I term floating of the worm and worm gear,is slight, even though the distortion of the frame be considerable.

I have found in practice that the chain drive 14 is capable ofsuflicient movement to permitthe required shifting of the housing 11 andits worm 12. I

Although I do not desire to confine myself to the specific constructionof the worm mounting in its housing 11, I have shown in Fig. 3 apreferred arrangement of the bearings and thrust mechanism as follows:

One end of the housing 11 is provided with a head 21 carrying a journalbearing 22. Ihe opposite head 23 carries a similar journal bearing 24:and astufling box and gland 25, to receive the shaft 13. At one endofthe worm 12 is a loose washer 26 of brass or anti-friction metal and atthe opposite end of the worm is a thrust bearing 27 adapted to taketheworking thrust of the worm 12. Thus thrust is transmitted through thehead 23 to the stop 16 when the winch is under load.

By the means above described I have produced a winch,the'pow'er-transmitting gear of which is not subject to distortion whenthe frame of the winch becomes distorted.

Moreover, the efficiency of the power transmission is maintained, eventhough the frame of the winch is thrown out of line,

either by the sudden slippage of a chain while hoisting the load, or bythe sudden application of the-brake when a heavy load is being lowered.

Having thus described my invention what- I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. In awinch, a frame, journal boxes "thereon adapted to slightoscillatory movemen a drum shaft revolubly mounted in sa1d boxes, a WormWheel fixed to said shaft, a worm, a worm housing supported by saidshaft and capable of slight oscillatory moveing integral with said wormWheel housing,

a worm revolubly mounted in said worm housing, a thrust bearing carriedby said worm housing, a driving shaft, means for revolving said drivingshaft, and stationary stops adapted to limit theoscillatory movement ofsaid housings.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

LEWIS G. HOWLETT.

